On to my third installment in the Left Behind series commentary! :)
The Indwelling
Okay, this is the one where Nicolae Carpathia comes back from the dead (cheese, cheese, cheese!), but it also happens to be one of the best written novels in the series--again, for character development. The dialogue is punchier, the plots are (thank God) more realistic, and the spiritual aspects of Rayford's and Chaim's journeys toward (or back) to faith are at once poignant and three-dimensional. The death of Chaim's staff at the hands of the GC is at once shocking and brutal, and the novel bestows on it an appropriate tone, worthy of the characters we have come to know and love since Apollyon. Even Fortunato's character development, the transition from eager "resurrected" devotee of Carpathia to antichrist's right hand man, is striking, disturbing, and real.
Some dislike this novel for covering only 3 days--personally, I think their complaints are unwarranted. Given the tautness of the story, and the changes that take place in the characters over these three days, it is appropriate (and, I think, a credit to the authors) to use time as a device through which to telescope, or zoom into, the interior motivations and foibles of each of the novel's main characters (good and bad). In particular, I enjoyed David Hassid's pissing match with Guy Blod--and his qualms (and inner turmoil) over how to conduct himself toward Blod in a mature and Christian way. (At that point, he became very 3-dimensional for me, in a way that he hadn't been in previous novels of the series.)
My one complaint is that while Carpathia's resurrection is (appropriately) scary, he doesn't really seem to have changed. Except for a little obnoxious misquoting of New Testament verses, and a pledge to bring "great tribulation" on the Christians of the world, his new status as a walking zombie (for lack of a better term) seems to be the most disturbing of his "new" qualities. (I was actually expecting a more "grand" entrance from the "new and improved" version of Carpathia--like Paul Etrades from Dune, calling the people of his world to worship him and come together under his godhood for a great galactic struggle. :))
Aside from this complaint, however, I think this book is definitely one of the top 3 in the series--and a good read on its own as well.
The Mark
More of Carpathia's "new" character seeps out (his killing of James Hickman's informant is one of the most shocking and brutal of the series), and more 3-dimensional character development occurs as well, especially for David (whose heartbreak at the loss of his paramour is so poignant that I found Hannah's attempts to get his attention rather insensitive). However, what this novel lacks in pace (almost every reader I've spoken with has made the complaint that almost nothing significant happens in the 400+ pages of this book), it also lacks in the depiction of its characters.
I was particularly disturbed at the extent to which Hattie Durham, who finally (after 7 books :)) makes a faith committment, fades into the shadows. Going from main character to annoying mascot--what the hell?? It almost seemed, particularly in the wake of the next book, that the authors had spent so much time developing her as an evil stubborn bitch that they didn't know what to do with her now that she was making some healthy faith (and relational) steps. To me, it was a golden opportunity for the authors to describe a destroyed life in recovery (by the power of God), but instead, they chose to describe a rather energetic (and barely tolerated) woman.
Personally, I felt Hattie deserved better than that.
Cameron's rescue of Zeke is predictable to the point of cliche, and Rayford's conversation with Zeke about his father's death didn't sit well with me. I kept thinking, "It's good advice, but is this a conversation that two flesh and blood human beings would actually have?" On the other hand, David's conversations with Mac, Abdullah, and even Hannah about his fiancee's death seem very real and very gritty.
The main problem with this book (other than Hattie) is that nothing happens. The mark of the Beast--and the new agenda of Carpathia--are covered in chapters 1 and 2, rendering everything that comes afterward (in particular the mass execution sequences in Greece) an exercise in going through the motions. And Carpathia still doesn't seem all that different, even with the execution of one of his subordinates (and his newfound ability to live indefinitely without sleeping)--there's no grand vision, there's no plan to move the masses into a holy war, and there doesn't really seem to be any power at all (which, I suppose, is the authors' point).
Personally, I would have expected something quite darker and scarier--for example, the recipients of Carpathia's mark becoming as "undead," and as evil, as he is. (It certainly would have made Chang's position far more frightening--and real--than it is at novel's end.)
(analysis to be continued)
The Indwelling
Okay, this is the one where Nicolae Carpathia comes back from the dead (cheese, cheese, cheese!), but it also happens to be one of the best written novels in the series--again, for character development. The dialogue is punchier, the plots are (thank God) more realistic, and the spiritual aspects of Rayford's and Chaim's journeys toward (or back) to faith are at once poignant and three-dimensional. The death of Chaim's staff at the hands of the GC is at once shocking and brutal, and the novel bestows on it an appropriate tone, worthy of the characters we have come to know and love since Apollyon. Even Fortunato's character development, the transition from eager "resurrected" devotee of Carpathia to antichrist's right hand man, is striking, disturbing, and real.
Some dislike this novel for covering only 3 days--personally, I think their complaints are unwarranted. Given the tautness of the story, and the changes that take place in the characters over these three days, it is appropriate (and, I think, a credit to the authors) to use time as a device through which to telescope, or zoom into, the interior motivations and foibles of each of the novel's main characters (good and bad). In particular, I enjoyed David Hassid's pissing match with Guy Blod--and his qualms (and inner turmoil) over how to conduct himself toward Blod in a mature and Christian way. (At that point, he became very 3-dimensional for me, in a way that he hadn't been in previous novels of the series.)
My one complaint is that while Carpathia's resurrection is (appropriately) scary, he doesn't really seem to have changed. Except for a little obnoxious misquoting of New Testament verses, and a pledge to bring "great tribulation" on the Christians of the world, his new status as a walking zombie (for lack of a better term) seems to be the most disturbing of his "new" qualities. (I was actually expecting a more "grand" entrance from the "new and improved" version of Carpathia--like Paul Etrades from Dune, calling the people of his world to worship him and come together under his godhood for a great galactic struggle. :))
Aside from this complaint, however, I think this book is definitely one of the top 3 in the series--and a good read on its own as well.
The Mark
More of Carpathia's "new" character seeps out (his killing of James Hickman's informant is one of the most shocking and brutal of the series), and more 3-dimensional character development occurs as well, especially for David (whose heartbreak at the loss of his paramour is so poignant that I found Hannah's attempts to get his attention rather insensitive). However, what this novel lacks in pace (almost every reader I've spoken with has made the complaint that almost nothing significant happens in the 400+ pages of this book), it also lacks in the depiction of its characters.
I was particularly disturbed at the extent to which Hattie Durham, who finally (after 7 books :)) makes a faith committment, fades into the shadows. Going from main character to annoying mascot--what the hell?? It almost seemed, particularly in the wake of the next book, that the authors had spent so much time developing her as an evil stubborn bitch that they didn't know what to do with her now that she was making some healthy faith (and relational) steps. To me, it was a golden opportunity for the authors to describe a destroyed life in recovery (by the power of God), but instead, they chose to describe a rather energetic (and barely tolerated) woman.
Personally, I felt Hattie deserved better than that.
Cameron's rescue of Zeke is predictable to the point of cliche, and Rayford's conversation with Zeke about his father's death didn't sit well with me. I kept thinking, "It's good advice, but is this a conversation that two flesh and blood human beings would actually have?" On the other hand, David's conversations with Mac, Abdullah, and even Hannah about his fiancee's death seem very real and very gritty.
The main problem with this book (other than Hattie) is that nothing happens. The mark of the Beast--and the new agenda of Carpathia--are covered in chapters 1 and 2, rendering everything that comes afterward (in particular the mass execution sequences in Greece) an exercise in going through the motions. And Carpathia still doesn't seem all that different, even with the execution of one of his subordinates (and his newfound ability to live indefinitely without sleeping)--there's no grand vision, there's no plan to move the masses into a holy war, and there doesn't really seem to be any power at all (which, I suppose, is the authors' point).
Personally, I would have expected something quite darker and scarier--for example, the recipients of Carpathia's mark becoming as "undead," and as evil, as he is. (It certainly would have made Chang's position far more frightening--and real--than it is at novel's end.)
(analysis to be continued)
posted by Brian Bly at 3:42 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home